My email: LilliMarleen_Weblog AT yahoo DOT co DOT uk If the 400 characters in my comments are not enough, just mail me!

As you might see soon, english is not my mothertongue. And since english speaking people are used to others stumble around in their language,
I hope I don't make too much of an idiot of myself here. So - my deepest apologies adressed to the English Language
for not worshipping her better.

The last weeks found us in Germany discussing if we should abolish the holiday - the Day of the Germany Unity.

Well, over at a Fistful of Euros is a great piece about it, even when the comments discuss just a side-part of it, it's worth a read.
We had a discussion about it at the Lilli household, too and Mr. Lilli was claiming that we Germans would never find a healthy relationship to our nationality when we no give up what comes closest to our national holiday. Okay, that would be a good idea if it were true, but it isn't. The day of german unitiy was all my life June 17th (google this date if you don't know it, it's too complicated to explain this here, too *s*) and just after the Wall fell down chancellour Kohl changed it into October 3rd, so my generation always had a strange feeling for this "new" holiday and wasn't June 17th way more attractive as a holiday than any day in October? How much better is the weather in June?
So I say, this new holiday, October 3rd, never really made it into our hearts. Even the less now, when more and more people failing to the East-West discussion the meadia leads and claim they would want the wall back (but right higher and including Bavaria, but that's another point). It's not his fault, but for me he will always be some kind of "new kid around" and even when the German Unity is a great thing to celebrate, there come many other points from german history in my mind which would deserve a holiday, too.
But the discussion on the comments at AFOE made me think about the religious holidays, too.

For what do we have religious holidays and how could that work with separation between church and state?

When I remember right what I was taught at bible-classes at church, the church holidays were invented that even the poor working people could make it to church at least once a week. (Well, tell this a cow when the milk is full, but okay, let we stand that here). For that people could do whatever the special days asks them to do as a christian core.
Okay, but is this in days like today where active christs are a minority in this country still a thing one must have? I mean what would happen if we had to work on Easter Monday? Would there be eaten one egg less? Or at Christmas - would Germany be a worse country if we had to work on Boxing day, like many Brits do?